Snow Fun!

The snow is falling and it's falling fast & furious at that! Ben came home early from work so we decided to take the girls sledding at the Rec Center by our house! There is a huge hill that is perfect for sledding! We had a great time and enjoyed our unexpected family time!! Mommy & her snow bunnies!

Ben taking Anna up the hill! My baby goes down all by herself!

Anna met me at the bottom of the hill! She was ALL smiles!

Claire & Anna sledding down together!!

They had so much fun!!

Anna Banana!

Ben & Claire sledding!

Claire insisted on taking her sled up the hill!

What fun!! They were worn out!

Bounce U

My friends & I found a GREAT new place to go to let the kids release some their pent up energy! Since it's been so cold we haven't been out of the house much so we are suffering from a terrible case of the dreaded... CABIN FEVER. It's a horrible virus that's going around right now. Well, Bounce University is the cure for this nasty bug!

Really though, we had a really fun time. We were there two hours and Claire & Anna both bounced non-stop! I wasn't sure Anna was quite old enough to enjoy it to the fullest, but she continues to prove me wrong. I am starting to realize that I am underestimating this little girl! We all had a blast. Mommies get to bounce, too! I got a great work out!

I also think I found the location for Anna's next birthday party! This a perfect place for a winter party!!

Claire going down the BIG slide with one of the Bounce U workers!

Claire talked me into going down the big slide with her. Anna enjoyed it as much as Claire! Needless to say... we all three went down many more times! It was really fun!

They had soft balls in the inflatables to play with!


My Dad & brothers would be so proud of this picture! Look at her form. She's a natural! That comes from the McDowell side! She made this lay up, too! Future basketball player???


They had fun bouncing together!


Noah & Claire bounce, bounce, bouncing away!


One of Anna's favorite things to do was crawl through the inflatable tunnel!

Jessica, my friend from many, many years ago & her daughter Elly!

Noah & Claire went down the slide together so many times. It was cute... whoever got to the top would wait for the other until sliding down! I didn't get a picture of my friend Rachel's son, Caleb. Sorry. :-(

Claire going through the obstacle course! She was in heaven here!

Library Adventure!

Grammy & I took the girls to the library for story time and a puppet show yesterday. This was Anna's first time going and she did really well. She sat on her little pad for about 5 minutes and intently watched the puppet show! She got a little bored with the story, but overall I was proud of how well she behaved! That's a lot to ask of a 1 year old!

Claire loves going to the library! Grammy takes her fairly often and she has her own library card and she has even learned to check out her books! She gets so excited when she knows Grammy is taking her and says... "Gammy take me on a venture (adventure)". It's really sweet!

Anna sitting like a big girl on her pad for the puppet show!

My girls at story time! When did they get so big?

It didn't take Anna long to realize that Grammy's lap looked much more comfy!

Claire really enjoyed the puppet show about a puppy who loved to eat pizza! She would turn around to me and giggle. It was the cutest thing! She's still talking about the silly puppy who eats pizza and cake!

Listening to the story!

Claire has a great time picking out books to take home!

Anna wanted to take ALL the books off the shelf. She does this at home, too. She can pull every book out of our book case in a matter of seconds! I feel like I pick up books a million times a day!

Claire found a table to look at all her new books!

Claire loves "Ginger" the Guinea Pig and talks about her often. Here Anna is meeting Ginger for the first time. She is definitely the main attraction at our library!

Grammy, Claire & Anna checking out the books! Gotta love the library!

God's at Work

Just a quick note to say that I am so thankful that God is at work in the heart of Claire. Over the last week we have been talking a lot about little Abby (see my previous post "Praying for Abby"). I have been able to talk to Claire about the power of prayer and sickness and even death. I know this seems like a crazy conversation to have with a two year old, but Claire initiates the conversations. I told her about Abby's condition (on a two year old level) and we pray several times a day for her. Claire actually reminds me to pray for her. She'll say, "Mommy... Abby is sick. Can we pray for her?". So anyway, if you think of it... will you pray for us right now. Pray that the Lord will give us the wisdom to teach Claire the truths of the Lord. Her heart is soft and already so open to the things of God. I can honestly say that my sole prayer for my girls is that they give their heart & life over to the Lord. I know He can use both Claire & Anna to do amazing things!

Goin' Sledding!

Snow + above zero temperatures = SLEDDING!

We've been waiting to take the girls sledding, but with the arctic conditions here in Ohio it was just way too cold to take them out. Well, today it was a balmy 20 degrees so sledding was on the agenda for the day! I actually worked after church so after the girls' afternoon nap Ben, Grammy, Papa, Claire & Anna headed for the hills! It was kind of late by the time they got there and was getting dark so they were only able to sled for about half an hour (plenty of sledding for a 12 month old), but Ben said that Claire & Anna loved their sledding experience! Next time Mommy will have to go along for the fun!

Claire told me ALL about her sledding adventure when I got home! She was so excited and animated during our discussion it made wish I had been with them!

Going up the hill with Grammy!

Coming down the hill all by herself!!



A couple cute pictures of Daddy & his girls!!

Ben said Anna was trying to "bail" here! She really enjoyed sledding and according to Ben she giggled the whole time! My little thrill seeker!

She looks so big!

Praying for Abby

My cousin Jill had a request to pray for a little girl named Abby on her blog. When I went to Abby's blog and started reading about little Abby and her family, I felt led to post this on my blog as well. Abby is fighting a very aggressive form of Leukemia and right this second she is in the midst of the most dangerous part of her treatment. Please take a second to watch the video by clicking onto the link for her family blog... http://www.riggsfamilyblog.com/

We pray to the great Physician who is able to heal and do miracoulous things. Our prayers are not in vain!

Coloring Time!

Everyday I try to have craft time with Claire. She really enjoys coloring, play-doh, gluing, cutting (with help) and just about anything else crafty. I find a lot of cheap crafts in the dollar bin at Target. A hint to all my friends that are looking for inexpensive crafts! Anyway, recently Anna has shown a huge interest in all these crafts as well. She can color on our easel really well, which is so cute to watch. Today she got herself up on one of the chairs at our play table. Claire was coloring and she wanted to be apart of the fun! I gave her crayons and paper and she went to town. She sat for almost 15 minutes just coloring and watching Claire! It is crazy that my baby is so suddenly doing all these big girl things. Seriously... when did she grow up???




Claire's coloring has progressed quite a bit recently. She is really trying to stay within the lines. Aunt Beth got her a neat coloring book with raised boundaries that is supposed to help kids feel when they go out of the lines!

Big girl coloring!!

Anna GRADUATED!

Today Anna "graduated" from the nursery at church to the one year old class. She is a year old and walking well now so she met the criteria. I had low expectations about how she would do in the class. She cried almost every time we dropped her off at the nursery, so I figured she would do the same today, BUT... I am happy to report that she didn't cry and Miss Amy said she sat still in a big girl chair for story time and snack time and that she played well with the other kids. WHAT? Could my baby really be doing all these big girl activities? I guess so! I couldn't believe it!! I am so proud of her and once again I have another little girl who loves Miss Amy!

Before church... Claire was so excited about Anna going to Miss Amy's class. It was cute to see her enthusiasm for her sister's milestone!

This was the uneventful hand off, which usually results in tears! Ohhhh.... the magic of Miss Amy!

I captured this sweet picture of Miss Amy reading to Anna!

When I went to pick Anna up she was playing with Mr. Paul on the slide (is he teaching her to walk UP the slide??). Hmmm... :-)

Mr. Paul and our smiley little girl!

I think Anna is very happy about her graduation!